To Be The Perfect Chunin
by erkovas
Summary: No one knows about the kyuubi. Why? The third sets out to make Naruto his secret weapon loyal only to him, unfortunately with a not so evil fox to help Naruto things don't go quite as planed.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not and will never own Naruto, and all that stuff. I hate reading disclaimers on each chapter so this will be the only one.

Summary: No one knows about the kyuubi. Why? The third sets out to make Naruto his secret weapon loyal only to him, unfortunately with a not so evil fox to help Naruto things don't go quite as planed.

Chapter 1

Pain.

Pain and anger.

That is all there was. The pain had defined her existence for such a long time that it was hard to remember what it had been like before the pain. But the anger came and went, she was only able to control it for so long before it completely took over her mind. After a while the anger would recede leaving her alone with the pain once again. But this time was different, something had helped stir up her anger and from the sane part of her mind she watched as the pain and anger made the rest of her mind respond. Lashing out at any and everything in her way she cut a path of destruction through the trees, following that which had enraged her.

Then she saw it, the walls looming in front of her and the tiny creatures coming to challenge her. What remained of her sanity cried for them to flee, save themselves from what she had become. But they persisted, they fought and died defending their home and as their tiny attacks added to her pain her anger grew. She prayed that someone would finally put her out of her misery that they would be about to save themselves, their home and save her from herself.

Then he came the man who was destined to change the world that night. He stood on the head of his companion tall, strong, unafraid of the horrors she was unleashing around him. He looked into her eyes and for a moment there was an understanding between them. He knew what was happening to her and he knew he could help but he wanted something in return. She was happy to agree to anything if only it would spot the pain. Seeing something in her that convinced him she agreed he took a deep breath and begin. He made some hand seals and prepared to save her. Whatever he did it worked she felt herself begin to fade from that plain of existence.

And then she knew no more. For six years she slept as the pain and anger receded leaving her pain free and in peace for the first time in hundreds of years. She took a deep breath, and then another as all her memories begin to return, the good and the bad. She remembered the joy of the family she once had and recounted the sorrow she felt as the thought of what she had done in her pain and anger. But she knew she had a job to do, she had promised that man and she had no intention of trying to get out of it.

Looking around the kyuubi begin to wonder the halls of her new home, in search of the box the man had left and the child who was going to be her new student.

0000

A six year old Uzumaki Naruto sat on a bench feeling tired. He was tired of the looks he always got from the town's people, the way they looked at him like he was some sort of disease they might catch. But the worst had happened today when he had overheard some people talking about him. As he thought back on it he wanted to cry.

_Yesterday had been a good day, he had made a friend. A boy named Katou had come up to him and asked _him _to play. They had had fun until Katou saw his parents, as they parted ways they promised to meet the next day. So this morning he had gone to the park early and waited, but after a while he got tired so he found a nice shaded spot to take a nap. From his spot he had heard Katou come up with his parents._

_He was talking excitedly about his new friend that he was going to meet again today. When Katou mentioned his name his parents froze looks of alarm on their faces. They shared a look and to Naruto's horror they told Katou he could never see Naruto again. The child looked shocked and asked why. They then revealed why Naruto was shunned, the horrors that the Uzumaki family had committed in their native whirlpool and the suspicion that they had led the kyuubi to Konoha. The only survivor of the small clan had been the child born on the day of the kyuubi attack a bad omen if ever they had seen one. No the couple would not have their child associating with such a menace to society._

Once he had heard about what his family had done Naruto had run. How could his family do such horrible things. But why would they blame him, yes he played some pranks on the people who had always been so mean to him but he was not a bad person was he? It was not his fault that he had been born into a family that had done such horrid things.

At least the old man liked him, he could not be that bad if the leader of the village liked him. He resolved that he would prove to everyone that he was a good person despite his family. He was starting at the academy in a few weeks and he would become the best ninja in the village, he would prove that he was not a menace he would not bring misfortune to Konoha.

With those thoughts filling his head he headed back to his lonely apartment, unaware of that he was being spied upon.

0000

Sarutobi Hiruzen third hokage of Konohagakure gave a small chuckle, looking up from his crystal ball. Everything was going well with the brat. The kid had finally overheard the story of his family. He had worked very hard to have just the right rumors spread about the boy. Sowing the seeds of distrust and fanning the fire every time it looked like people where starting to forget about the elusive Uzumaki's.

Not that he had any problems with the Kushina, the only Uzumaki who actually lived in Konoha and mother of Naruto but she had been the perfect example of how bad the clan was, she had been shy around people so not many people knew her personally. But everyone knew of her reputation as a ninja. The red head known as red death on the battle field was used as an example of what the clan was capable of.

And with a few kind words to the child every once in a while he was able to gain his trust, he knew that with time, that brat would trust only him, he would train the vessel of the kyuubi to be everything he wanted, loyal only to him. In just a few short years he would have a powerful weapon that would be unstoppable.

And the best part was that he had managed to isolate the child without revealing that he was a jinchuriki to anyone. It would have been easy to make everyone hate the container by revealing the truth, but that was one of his closest graded secrets. No one knew about it, not even his closest advisors, he had been the only one there when Minato had sealed the beast inside his child and with the forth's death he was the only one who knew. It was then that he had seen the opportunity in front of him to create a super solder loyal only to him.

Sarutobi chuckled thinking of what he could do with the child, once again thanking Minato for keeping his marriage with Kushina and her subsequent pregnancy from everyone. While the fourth had done this to protect his family, it had enabled him to do whatever he wanted now that they both were dead.

There was a knock on the door and the hokage quickly deactivated his privacy seals once again thanking the fourth for installing them, that man was truly a genius when it came to seals. If not for the seals he may have been found out. Damn his habit of muttering whenever he was concentrating. He had been a shinobi for over fifty years and hokage for over half that time, yet he just could not kick the habit of speaking his thoughts out loud.

The hokage sighed calling for the person to come in, it was time to get back to work he could not spend all his time on the kyuubi brat.

0000

Well that was interesting, kyuubi had finally found the box that the man, she now knew as Minato Namikaze, had left for her. Her new home seemed to be the mind of his son Naruto, and he was the one she was suppose to help.

Inside the box was information on his family jutsu, history along with everything she would need to get into his family estate, which the seal master had sealed to prevent anyone from disturbing it. Everything not in the box would be there.

Well it was time to get out of here and greet her new student. If what she had seen of his memories from her search he was going to need all the help he could get, and she was going to need more information.

0000

So tell me what you think, does it have potential?

Hope you enjoy,

Please Read and Review

~Erkovas


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Naruto woke up with a yawn, he had had the strangest dream last night. He was in a hall with a giant red fox, that talked! Even at six he knew that was crazy, animals didn't talk, no matter what that weird boy at the park sometimes said. But that had been by far the most vivid dream the boy had ever had.

The fox had said that she was the kyuubi, she was sealed inside of him and the dead forth hokage had asked her to train him. He knew it was not true but he could not help but wonder if maybe it was real. Thinking back to the dream he tried to remember what the fox had said to do when he wanted to talk to her again.

Ah! He closed his eyes and called out as loud as he could to the kyuubi in his head. Feeling ridiculous standing in the middle of his apartment with his eyes shut tight and small hands clenched into fists at his side he decided to try one more time and if it didn't work he would give up on having an awesome fox teacher.

'Hello kyuubi are you there?' he screamed in his head. After a few seconds he sighed and with a depressed air prepared to open his eyes and face another day of all the people hating him.

'**I'm awake, I'm awake. What did you need this early?'**

Naruto nearly jumped out of his skin at the confirmation that he really had another voice in his head. 'Um, I wanted to see if you were real. Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, OHMYGOSH. You are real and you are going to teach me how to be an awesome ninja. And then everyone will know that I am not evil and I love my village just as much as they do and then they will let me play with everyone and they will give me all the free ramen I can eat and…'

'**You woke me up for that? I will forgive you this one time, but only because you are six. But if you ever wake me up before ten, and the village isn't burning down around you I swear I will claw my way out of your mind and beat you.' **Kyuubi said she needed her beauty sleep. **'If that is all I am going back to sleep don't wake me up again.'**

With a huff Kyuubi curled up in a ball and went back to sleep, leaving Naruto with a resolution never to wake someone up unless the village was on fire.

After about five minutes off on some other planet a smile spread across Naruto's face, it was real, he had someone to teach him how to be a ninja and nothing was going to stop him. Except maybe a vixen who definitely did not like mornings.

0000

Hinata Hyuga was having a bad day. In fact this had to be the worst day of her life. It had started when her cute baby sister woke her up from a dream about her mother. She wasn't really sure how the six month old girl could make so much noise or why she got away with it. If she had been that noisy at any time, let alone five in the morning she would have been in big trouble.

Being unable to return to sleep she had gone to get some breakfast only to run into her cousin, Neji. The seven year old had sneered at her and told her she was a failure unsuited to being the clan heir.

After being forced to participate in a spar with Neji, which she lost badly, she had run to the one place she felt safe, her mother's garden. In the time since her mother's death it had grown wild, with no one tending it. But that was ok, the tall grass, weeds and flowers hid her as she lay by the pond for a short time escaping the looks she always got from her family.

But her peace was not meant to last. Three ten year old boys from the branch house walked by and spotted her. They laughed at her and called her weak. Then to Hinata's horror they began to destroy her mother's garden. They called her beautiful strong mother weak. They said she was not strong enough to survive having a baby and it was because she spent her time gardening instead of training.

For the first time in her life Hinata was angry. Angry enough to purposely harm another human. She saw red and with a wordless cry she attacked the boys who had dared attack her mother's garden and memory. Unfortunately she was a small six year old girl trying to fight three ten year old boys with more training than her.

She managed to get in a few good hits before they took her down and begin beating her with fists and feet. A few minutes later an adult noticed them and broke up the fight. The boys were sent to their parents and she was brought before her father.

So now here she stood bruised and broken, with streaks down her cheeks a testament to her tears. With her father looking down at her from behind his big desk, anger showing in his pupil-less eyes.

"Explain yourself." He said in a quiet voice daring her to contradict his ideas of what had happened.

Hinata took a deep breath and repeated in her head 'I must not cry' a few times before opening her mouth "I-I-I was j-just sitting in m-mother's g-g-garden w-when they a-attacked…"

"That's enough if you can not speak clearly do not speak at all." Hiashi said, his anger clearly rising. "The boys say you attacked them for no reason. And then you lost, you are the heir of the greatest clan in Konoha. You can not show weakness. Not only did you let yourself get beaten but you were playing around with flowers. You are going to be a ninja and ninja's do not play with flowers! You are starting the academy in three days there is no time for distractions. Tomorrow I am having that garden taken out. Since you seem to like the place so much I will have a training ground put there. You will train there every day is that understood."

"Y-Y-Yes." Hinata couldn't prevent the single tear that made it's way down her cheek as she bowed to her father and left the room.

Yes today was definitely the worst day of her life. As she walked down the hall the eyes of her family following her as they commented on her failings to each other. In that moment Hinata didn't care. All she could think about was the impending destruction of her mothers garden.

0000

Late that night Hinata was laying in bed unable to sleep due to the pain from her fights and the idea that her mother's garden would be gone in a few days. Giving it up as a lost cause she got up and as quietly as any six year old child of a ninja crept out into the night. She slowly climbed out her window and made her way to the shed where gardening equipment was kept, remembering something her mother had said to her before her death.

_They were out in the garden and she was listening to her mother tell her about the different plants and flowers, listing off uses for them along with tips on how to care for them. She stopped before a peony and sniffed one of the blooms. Beckoning Hinata forward she showed her the bush and whispered "This is my favorite flower, it and the garden belonged to your grandmother and she gave it to me when I married your father. If anything ever happens to me I want you to have it. Never let it die and let it be a reminder of how much I love you." _

With her mother's wish in her mind she gathered a cart, a pot, soil and the biggest shovel she could handle by herself before silently heading towards her mother's garden, a small bush with red flowers filling her head.

Two hours later she almost had the bush out when her shovel hit something hard, looking around to make sure no one heard her she started digging around the unknown object convinced it was a gift from her mother, who else would hide such a thing under this bush.

Finally extracting the box she found a medium sized rectangle box made of a dark wood, it was plain with no designs and no clear way to open it. Enchanted by the box Hinata sat there holding it up and examining it in the moonlight.

An owl hooted in a nearby tree startling her, she quickly put the box in the wagon and went back to her original task of rescuing the peony. She transplanted the flowering bush into the pot she had brought and with all her strength lifted it into the wagon before slowly making her way back the her room. Thanking her lucky stars that everything in the Hyuga district was on the first floor she lifted the bush into her window setting it on her dresser, where it was quickly joined by the strange box. Hinata made her way back to the gardening shed, put everything back where she found it.

Twenty minutes later Hinata crawled back into bed happy that she had been able to save the flower her mother loved so much and determined to find out what was in the unknown box. With those thoughts the tired six year fell asleep, holding one of the blossoms from her new potted plant.

0000

Naruto was sulking. Sulking as only a six year old can, with arms crossed eyebrows knitted and bottom lip out, ignoring the people who were filing into the classroom that were currently his sulking grounds. It had been a week since the Kyuubi had made her presence known and not his first day in the academy he knew no more than he had before. He had planed to come into class and show everyone how awesome he was but the Kyuubi had not taught him anything.

No the mangy fox had told him that before they could really start training he needed to have a basic understanding of things like chakra, along with the ability to keep his mouth shut and his abilities to himself. As if he couldn't keep a secret, what did the fox take him for a child?

And then she had said something about gathering information, knowing the situation, whatever that meant. And what could she possibly want to know that he couldn't tell her? No Kyuubi was just being mean.

Never one to dwell on anything for to long, Naruto sighed put his elbows on the desk in front of him, dropped his head onto his hands and started watching his new classmates walk in. There were some interesting looking people. One guy seemed to have a black pineapple growing out of the back of his head while his friend had swirly tattoos on his cheeks. Then there was the girl with bright pink hair held back with a red ribbon. He nearly laughed at the kid who's hair looked like a duck's butt but managed to hold it in.

'**What were these kids parents thinking letting them go out in public looking like that? Oh look the pineapple head fell asleep I thought all six year olds had more energy than they knew what to do with. Human's are weird'** Kyuubi sighed in his head. **'Now pay attention in class, once you learn the basics I can start teaching you the more interesting stuff.'**

Naruto grumbled an affirmative as he returned to people watching. Then he spotted her. He did not know who she was but he could see it in her white eyes, she had given up. Stopped believing in human goodness. It was the same look he got every time someone told him to get lost for no reason or would not let him shop in their store. Why was this tiny girl with the strange colored eyes so sad? How could she have become so jaded? He decided that if it was the last thing he did he would find out, regardless of what people said about him he was going to be a good person, and it would start with restoring the girl's faith in humanity.

Kyuubi had told him to pay attention she just never said to what. So he paid attention to the girl. Through course introductions and a long winded explanations of what it meant to be a ninja. And when it was time for lunch and everyone else made their way outside to eat he followed her as she made her was to a secluded area under a tree.

Naruto straightened his shirt and tried to flatten his hair. Now that he was actually going to talk to her he was terribly nervous. What if she didn't like him? Or her parents told her not to talk to him, or worst he made her cry. Wiping his hands on his pants and taking a deep breath he boldly walked over to her.

"Hi, can I sit with you?" he asked shyly.

The girl looked up from her lunch, clearly startled that someone was talking to her. "S-S Sure." She replied giving him as much of a smile as she could manage before looking back down at her lunch.

Naruto gave her a big smile, and sat down next to her. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki, what's yours?"

"Hinata H-H-Hyuga."

"What's wrong with your eyes?" He asked trying to start a conversation.

Hinata head shot up in surprise at the question before her eyes narrowed in anger. "There is nothing wrong with my eyes, everyone in my family has them."

"Really? Can they do anything cool? Like see through walls?" Naruto asked excitedly, bouncing up and down next to her.

"U-U-Um sort of." Hinata said nervously looking back down at her lunch, missing Naruto's expression as his eyes almost popped out of his head.

"Awesome," he whispered in awe "can I get eyes like that."

"Um no only m-members of the H-H-Hyuga clan have them."

Naruto frowned "That's stupid I want cool eyes to." At least he had gotten her talking, "Oh well I will just have to find some other way to be awesome, if I had eyes like that I would just be copying you. So what do you like to do?" She looked up surprised that someone was asking her about something other than ninja training. Oh ya, he was going to be her friend no matter what.

0000

Hinata followed the branch house member in charge of picking her and her cousin up from the academy as he hurried back to the house, her first day had been mind shattering. Not the classes or the teachers but the other students she had talked to. She even made a friend. And the thing she took away from the day was not everyone lived like the Hyuga's. There was so much out there beyond the walls of the clan compound and she was determined to experience it. One day she was going to be free of the looks her family gave her and the way they talked to her. She would not have to train with them every day, life could change for her, she could, no would be free.

The boy Naruto had in one day shown her more kindness than her whole clan, except her mother, had since she had been kidnapped when she was three. Why was her family so cold? Were most family's like hers or were they kind and willing to listen to others like Naruto? Well she decided she was going to be nice regardless of what her family was like.

With these thoughts and her head held high she walked through the gates and into the Hyuga compound. Her guide turned to her, "Lord Hiashi wishes to see you immediately." he said with a bow before he left. Hinata sighed and turned in the direction of her father's office as Neji huffed in her direction muttering something about fate and being weak before walking off.

As Hinata headed to meet with her father she noticed that she was not getting as many hateful looks as normal instead some were looking at her with smug satisfaction while others were looking on with pity. Her new found resolve faded as she wondered what could have happened in the past few hours to cause this change.

She stopped in front of her father's office and knocked lightly. After a moment and a firm reply from her father to enter she slowly slid the door open before bowing and entering the dark musty room. She approached his desk and stood at attention, hands clasped in front of her.

After what seemed like an eternity her father spoke "You are late, learn to be on time." he chided before looked up at her and wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Remember this in the future unless you are in the practice court you will not appear before me unless you are formally attired. Do you understand?"

Knowing that a response was required she stuttered out an affirmative.

Hiashi's eyes narrowed "The Hyuga clan is the strongest clan in the hidden leaf village if you continue on your current path of weakness you will be an embarrassment to your family. As the heir you not only have to be stronger than any of the other children in the clan but also at the academy. Today your sister activated her byakugan for the first time. This is nearly unheard of for someone her age, you on the other hand did not activate your eyes until you were nearly four. If you are not up to the challenges that face the heir of the Hyuga clan I will put the caged bird seal on you and make Hanabi my heir. Do you understand me?" he asked as he leaned towards her the light from the afternoon sun streaming in behind causing his eyes to glow as the rest of his face was hidden in shadows.

Hinata shuttered, gulped, nodded and swallowed again before squeaking out a yes.

Hiashi sat back in his chair "Good, the workers have finished the construction on your new training field, go and practice until dinner. You are dismissed."

Hinata quickly bowed before leaving the stuffy room. She shut the door behind her before running to the training field, the place that had once been her haven, which would soon become her own personal hell.

0000

It had been three days since Naruto had started the academy and so far everything had been going well, he was making friends with some of the other students and learning about being a ninja. For the first time in quite a while he was content and dare he say happy. Sarutobi looked up from his crystal ball with a sinister grin and small chuckle, it was time for the next step in his plan for the boy.

0000

There's chapter two, by the way I always love reviews.

As I reread this chapter I realized that Hiashi was really an evil bastard. I know this chapter is rather dark and focuses a lot on Hinata but she is going to be a part of Naruto's team and thus will be one of the main characters so I needed to introduce her. Ten points to anyone who can guess who the third person will be.

I can't decide if I should redeem Neji or make him just like the rest of the clan, if I do change his fate driven attitude it won't be for a while, sorry no epic life altering Naruto/Neji battle during the Chunin exams. Input or ideas on where his character should go are always welcomed.

On a side note I got to read the manga Full Metal Alchemist this weekend, when not trying to get my 5 and 7 year old cousins to leave me alone, and it was freaking awesome. If you have not read it, or only watched the anime, I highly recommend it.

~Erkovas


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Naruto sat on the swing in front of the academy head down wondering where everything had gone wrong. He had finally started his ninja training and was making friends with his classmates. Hinata was quickly becoming one of the first people he could open up to and the teachers seemed to like him, even though he annoyed them at times.

Everything was going great for the few days, but then slowly a few people at a time his classmates and teachers were turning on him. People he was talking and playing with the yesterday were avoiding him today. Instructors who laughed at his jokes all of a sudden chided him for everything and punished him at the drop of a hat.

Naruto closed his eyes willing himself not to cry. But despite his best efforts a tear wound its way down the six year olds cheek. 'Kyuubi' he called softly in his head as he became aware of her presence , 'why does everyone hate me? Why do they blame me for what my family did?' His mental voice quieted to a whisper as if he was afraid to even put the thought into words, 'Am I a bad person?' He closed his eyes as more tears dripped from is eyes.

Kyuubi sighed, **'No my child you are not a bad person…'** Before she could continue a hand dropped onto Naruto's shoulder startling him.

He looked up to see the one person who had always treated him with kindness regardless of how others saw him. "Old man, what are you doing here?" he asked as he jumped off the swing and gave the Hokage a hug.

"I was just walking by and noticed you looked sad. How would you like me to buy you a bowl of ramen, and you can tell me what's bothering you." He asked with a smile that any six year old would think was genuine.

Excited at the prospect of a free meal and a chance to talk to someone who did not live in his head Naruto readily agreed, happily following along behind the old man.

After ramen and a conversation on how things were going at the academy Sarutobi stood up with a sad smile. He once again placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder, "I am sorry you are having such a rough time but remember you can always come to me with any problems. My door is always open."

Naruto and Sarutobi said their goodbyes and parted ways, Naruto heading back to his rundown apartment happy that the old man still cared for him.

'**Something's not right' **Kyuubi said suspicion in her voice. '**I don't trust him.'**

'Why not?' Naruto replied outraged 'He is the only one who has always been nice to me.'

'**Exactly why he is suspicious! Does he always show up at the right time? Like just now?' **

Naruto thought it over and remembered the times the old man had come looking for him. It always seemed to happen right after the villagers redoubled their efforts to torture him. He walked into his apartment, closed and relocked the door before flopping down onto his second hand couch depression settling back in. 'So what do we do?' he asked Kyuubi.

'**Learn how to control your chakra, once you have access to it I can start helping you.' **She replied **'I am working on a way for you to summon a physical form for me. Once I can move around more freely we can get more information, which is what we desperately need right now. For the moment get some sleep and stay strong, I promise I will do everything in my power to help you. Life will get better.'**

0000

He must be crazy. That was the thought running through Hinata's head from where she stood before her father. In the week since she had started at the academy her friendship with Naruto had grown to the point where they were nearly inseparable during the day. But here was her father telling her that she was no longer allowed to associate with him. The reason being he was from a bad family, one that were known to betray their allies at the drop of a hat. But Naruto was nothing like that, he was kind and though a bit loud at times was always willing to help those around him. So she came to the only logical conclusion she could. Her father must be crazy.

Hiashi seemed to notice something about his daughter that told him of her rebellious thoughts "Let me make things perfectly clear for you," he said from the shadows of his desk "if you disobey me there will be consequences. Neither one of us will enjoy it if I am forced to punish you. There are more important people in your class anyway. Several clan heirs are the same age as you, make your way into their confidence and in time we may create a closer alliance with their clans." With that he dismissed her with a wave confident that his message had gotten through.

Hinata left her father not knowing what to do. Considering what her normal day was like she dreaded what kind of punishment the man she now knew as crazy would come up with if she failed to follow his orders. But she was not the type of person to abandon her friends because of some rumor.

Head down she deep in thought she made her way back to her room trying to find a way out of her current situation. Maybe if she explained to Naruto he would understand. But even if he did understand why she still wanted to be his friend. He gave her confidence and drove her to be better, not just as a ninja but as a person as well. She did not stutter as much around him and was getting better every day, though it returned full blast when ever she even saw another Hyuga.

Hinata slowly walked into her room and closed the door behind her. She flopped down on her bed and stared at the darkened lighting fixture. She had nothing, knew no way out of this mess. But Naruto was smart he would know how they could remain friends without risking punishment. '_I will talk to him tomorrow' _she resolved. With a sigh she turned onto her side and tried to get comfortable, hoping her mind would stop buzzing so she could get some sleep.

0000

If anyone cared to look around the field at the academy the next day they would have noticed a strained looking Hinata making her way towards a depressed blond, only to lose her nerve and turn around before she could get there. After two or three indecisive turns around the field she finally mustered what courage her family had not striped her of walked up to the blond and sat down beside him.

Naruto jumped in surprise as she sat next to him, he looked at her and knew something was wrong. "Hinata what's wrong?" he asked concern in his voice. At that she started to cry.

After freaking out, then comforting her (with some tips from Kyuubi) he got her to calm down and explain what was going on. "…so if I stay friends with you my dad will punish me but I really don't want to lose you." she concluded with a sniff.

To say Naruto was shocked by this would be an understatement. He knew that she had some problems at home but had no idea they were this bad. It was almost as bad as when he went to a market. He sat in stunned silence for a few minutes before addressing Kyuubi. 'What should we do? I can't let her stay in there.'

'**Hmm I don't know but I think you guys are going to have to start a secret friendship. I would say a public argument would convince her father that you are no longer friends. You will have to meet in secret and we will work on a long term plan to get her out of that house.'**

Naruto relayed the message to a very relieved Hinata. And they shared in the fun it was going to be to have a secret friendship. They spent some time planning out their next few meetings and were starting to discuss what they should argue about when Kyuubi interrupted.

'**Naruto, ask her if she can use her chakra yet. If so I have something that we need her help with.'**

After Naruto suddenly quit talking in the middle of a sentence Hinata waited patently as he got a looking dazed for a moment. Suddenly refocused on her and asked "Can you access your chakra yet?" At her nod he smiled. "Good I need your help with something, here's what we are going to do…"

0000

The next day the Hokage was working on some paperwork and congratulating himself on the success of his plan to once again isolate Naruto. He had been watching the brat and saw him get into an argument with Hinata Hyuga, the only classmate who was still kind to him.

He thought about going to see the boy again but decided against it. If he showed up to much someone would get suspicious, plus he did not enjoy spending extended periods of time with the annoying child. No he would let the boy work through this by himself.

He stretched and looked at the clock, 4:00 good his day was almost over. Hopefully nothing came up that required his attention. He had been unusually busy lately with the demon brat starting at the academy. Plus those Uchiha's were becoming a problem. Who did they think they were challenging his authority? He was going to have to show them who was the boss soon. But not today, he was going to have a quiet afternoon before going home and getting a good night's sleep.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Or not. Sarutobi sighed and called for the poor soul who was disturbing him to come in. The door opened to reveal a clearly upset Naruto. The hokage mentally groaned as he wondered how he had gotten to his office without anyone noticing him. Putting a concerned grandfather look on his face he turned to the blond.

"Naruto my boy, what happened?" He questioned

Naruto looked up at the old man. "Everyone at school hates me now," he sniffed "I thought Hinata was my friend buy she said she hated me. Why doesn't anyone like me?" Naruto wandered around the room listlessly randomly picking things up and putting them back where he found them before moving on to the next thing.

Sarutobi was getting annoyed with the brat touching all his stuff but could not get angry at him now or he would lose the trust he had gained. He sighed as Naruto picked up a random book flipped through it and put it back on the shelf. "I am sorry you got into an argument with your friend. But everyone can't hate you."

He got up and gave the demon a hug. "Now as much as I would like you to stay here I have work to do. I will come to see you soon and we can go get ramen again. Keep your spirits up you everything will work out in the end." He said patting the boy on the head and leading him to the door. "I hope you have a better day tomorrow." He said smiling at the boy. He singled one of his subordinates to get the boy out of there and with a final pat on the head he headed back to his desk.

0000

Naruto left the Hokage tower with his head down the perfect picture of a depressed child, but if anyone had bothered to look at his face they would have seen the smile or maybe more of a smirk. Whatever it was it did not belong on the face of a child that had just had a fight with his friend. No this look belonged on the face of someone who had just done something very sneaky or perhaps pulled a prank and got away with it.

Naruto made his fake depressed way back to his apartment and sat down on his couch pulling out the receiving end of a listening seal. While he was in the hokage's office he had put the transmitter inside a book that, judging by the dust, had not been touched in years.

He had made it with the help of Kyuubi and Hinata had activated it since she could access and control her chakra. He sighed it was not his fault he couldn't use his yet. He was not part of a clan and had no one to teach him before this week. He was starting to get the hang of it but it was not quite there yet.

Back to what he was hearing from the hokage's office. Naruto was both glad and scared that the seal was working so well. But he could hear the hokage muttering to himself. He listened with growing horror to the man he once thought of as a grandfather.

"Stupid demon. Ruining my day, how did he get in here unnoticed? Have to tighten security here. Sigh. I hate working, why is one brat so much trouble…"

Unable to listen any more Naruto threw the seal across the room and curled up in a ball. Real depression setting in, wishing the Kyuubi could really hug him as he listened to her make southing noises in his head.

0000

Kyuubi was beyond mad as she tried her best to south the broken little boy who she was coming to see as her son. How could anyone be truly cruel to such a caring boy. Out of all god's creations humans had to be the most mysterious. They could be kind to someone one day and hate them the next. They could shun a small child based on rumors, and some could even use them like they were tools.

And Naruto was not the only one. From what she knew and could guess of Hinata's home life she was not much better off than Naruto. But instead of strangers it was her _family_ who treated her like she was nothing.

She could see the fire in their eyes, the desire to change their lives. And she made a vow to help the small children who were mistreated by those who should have cared for them. The biggest problem was said neglectful people. If they knew what she was up to or what the children would be capable of once she trained them it would not end well for Naruto and Hinata.

No they needed to be useless to the public, at least for now. She was going to teach them to be the perfect ninjas. Strengths and powers hidden from everyone. They would be the most underestimated ninjas but she was going to make them more powerful than they could even imagine.

0000

That night when most children were safely tucked in bed two ninja academy students met in the underbrush of a little used park. Both looked like they had had bad days.

"You don't look so good Hinata, what happened when you got home?" Naruto asked

"Evidently I made to much of a scene when I broke my friendship with you and my dad got mad." She replied with a sigh. "Never mind how did it go with you?"

"I got the bug into his office and he is definitely not as not the nice old man he pretends to be." Naruto said with a sad sigh.

"So what are we going to do now?"

"Train. I am going to train in secret because as much as it sucks to be seen as week the last thing I want is to be turned into a weapon. Will you train with me?"

Hinata looked into Naruto's eyes mirroring the determination she saw in them. "Yes, I will become powerful enough to escape the monsters who call themselves my family."

The two looked at each other silently promising to support each other through thick and thin. This was the beginning of a legend.

0000

Sorry for any big mistakes. It was either post it now or wait till the next time I have a chance to get on the internet. And I never know when that will be. But I will look over it in my spare time.

Hope you enjoyed and if you do I would love to hear from you. Comments questions or suggestions.

~Erkovas


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

Hinata sighed as she doodled in the corners of her notebook. After two years of studying with Naruto under the careful eye of Kyuubi the eight year old was far beyond anything the academy could teach her. Even with classes and the training her father required her to do in her 'special' training ground eating into her time she had progressed far beyond what was expected of anyone her age.

This had led to the sigh of boredom and anger. Boredom that she had to sit through another history lesson. And anger that it was on the hokages and the teacher, whose name she hadn't even bothered learning, was currently regaling them with tales of the wonder that was the third hokage. She could care less what the old windbag had done in his day, what good he had done in the it past did not excuse him from the sins he had committed. The shining example being Naruto's situation.

Sighing once again Hinata leaned her head on her hand and began to play with her short hair, remembering when she had cut it. The Hyuga's prided them selves on their long hair to a point that frankly scared her. Honestly most of her family looked so much alike as it was that when they all had the exact same hair cut no one could tell if a Hyuga was male or female let alone tell them apart. Hinata sent a daily prayer of thanks up to whatever ancestor saw fit to bless her with purplish black hair instead of the standard Hyuga dark brown.

When she had walked through the compound gates with jaw length hair for one blissful minute there had been peace as her clan members where to shocked to speak. Of course it had been the calm before the storm. Once her 'family' had recovered from the shock they had taken her to task but when she had stuttered out that it had gotten caught on a tree branch they had reluctantly backed off. Oh how she hated her stutter before she had gotten rid of it, it was a symbol of her weakness and now that she could speak without it, the blasted stutter was so much work.

Hinata smiled faintly as she remembered that day, her only regret was that she had not given one of those stuffy elders a heart attack. Not that they knew that, a few days after the incident she had come back to the compound wearing a ski cap that covered her short hair as well as her forehead. As a member of the main house she should proudly display her clear forehead, void of the cursed seal. The message she wanted to send was clear; 'I am weak and do not feel worthy to be a member of the main house.' And those old fools played right into her hands.

Sometimes it scared her how easy it was to manipulate the adults who were supposed to be so much smarter than a pair of eight year olds and a fox. A shining example of this was the third Hokage, who the nameless teacher was still droning on about. Honestly Hinata was not sure how Naruto put up with him. Over the past few years the two children and fox had kept an eye on the old man and seen how corrupt the geezer really was. But at the moment all she could really do was hope he didn't do something really stupid, especially considering the way the Uchiha clan had been butting heads with him lately.

Oh, thank all that is holy, he was moving on to the forth hokage. There was not nearly as much to say about him, considering he had died young. Hinata looked down and winced, how could she think that way about Naruto's father. She would gladly sit through a longer history lesson every day if Naruto could have his family back. With a quick guilty look at said boy, who seemed to be doing fine despite the lesson on his father, Hinata blocked out everything and returned to doodling.

0000

Unknown to Hinata Naruto had noticed the look she had sent his way. He chuckled to himself, it was just like her. She was probably ecstatic that the lecture was almost over then felt guilty about the fact that his father's death is what had shortened it. It amazed him that she could be so viscous at times then instantly regret it and become the kindest person he knew. Girls were so weird.

Glad that Kyuubi was not here to hear that thought Naruto tuned out random chunin who hated him for no apparent reason number 12. Honestly he knew more about the fourth hokage than all the teachers combined.

It had been a great shock the day he had found out that the legendary fourth was his father. Kyuubi had told him about the day she had attacked and his father had died but had been unwilling to tell him and Hinata about why she had attacked, saying it was not time yet. But after much pestering she had promised that once they heard the official story of the day he was born she would tell them what really happened. And that day had come. The Kyuubi attack was a part of the fourths history so they would be going over it today, and tonight they would hear the real story.

Smiling behind his hands Naruto brought his attention back to the teacher in time to hear him start on the story of that fateful day. Yes despite the evil looks the chunin was giving him this was going to be a good day.

0000

At dusk that night Hinata made her way across Konoha heading towards a place very few knew still existed. Naruto's training ground and home away from home for both of them. The Namikaze estate was hidden by multiple levels of seal arrays, functioning to hide, maintain, repel and help people forget that the area was there. Unless you knew how get in.

Carefully checking the area around her Hinata made her way to a small house standing alone in the old part of town. With the silence of a ninja she slipped inside carefully and navigated her way around the sparsely furnished house and towards the back door. She quickly went through a series of hand seals and opened the back door, revealing not an empty lot but the entrance to the Namikaze estate.

Minato had spared no expense when building the home he wished to share with his family. Before her stood a large two story house with a dojo attached to the side. On the left was a field perfect for open ground sparing. On the right was a dense forest which mimicked the forest surrounding the village giving it its name. Behind the house, she knew was another area, her favorite spot to train by far. At the edge of the estate the hokage monument rose towards the sky and a waterfall fell into a deep pool which spread out to form a small lake. From there the water rushed off to join the rest of the streams and rivers that fed the greenery in and around the village.

This was where she trained whenever she got the chance, since the discovery that she had an affinity with water she had come to the waterfall for inspiration and help whenever she was frustrated with training.

With a glance around the grounds Hinata made her way to the house and into the living room, where Naruto was waiting for her.

"Where is Kyuubi?" she asked.

"She was tired when I got back from the academy so she went back, told me to call her when you got here." Naruto and Kyuubi had long ago figured out how to let the Kyuubi out of him in a way similar to summoning. Going through five or so quick hand seals Naruto summoned a red fox twice as big as Toro the cat.

Kyuubi stretched as she looked around then gracefully leaped onto the couch beside Naruto. **"So what did they tell you about me in class?"** she asked a slightly nervous tone in her voice.

"Basically horrible mindless beast kyuubi attacked the village for no reason and the fourth killed it at the cost of his life." Naruto replied "They didn't say anything really."

Kyuubi sighed **"The true story is far from that and in order to understand we must go further back into my history, a lot further back." **she started as the three settled down for what promised to be a long story.

0000

About four hundred years ago there lived a family of fishermen, the Hoits, they spent everyday out on their boats trying to catch enough fish to live off. But the wind was against them, day after day blowing their little boats back to shore, preventing them from going far enough out to catch the fish they desperately needed.

One day they rescued a man from the sea. Even though they had next to nothing they took care of the man and nursed him back to health. When the stranger was well again he saw their the difficulties they had and gave them a gift. He taught them a wind summoning jutsu. With the help of this jutsu the Hoits were able to get further out into the ocean and catch enough fish to make a living. In time they became they were able to hire more people and get bigger boats. Within five years they owned the biggest fish business in the country. But success made them greedy. If all this success could come about with the help of just one jutsu what could they do with more?

So they researched jutsus and discovered that the one the old man had given them was truly unique in the area of wind manipulation, for it not only manipulated wind but it summoned it from unknown regions. So using it as a starting point the Hoit's began to experiment. I am not sure how but they developed a summoning jutsu that summoned me from the beast world into this one, but they were unable to send me back. So they took me to an island and left me there. At first I was like any other large summoned beast but slowly I began to absorb the chakra that this world produces. But the power is painful. Nothing is meant to absorb chakra in that quantity, but the differences in our worlds allowed it. The longer I stayed in this world the faster I absorbed chakra.

In time more creatures were dropped off on the island, more results of the Hoit's experimentation. Eventually nine of us were gathered and that is when I snapped. How could these _humans _do this? The anger combined with all the chakra I had absorbed helped me navigate the ocean and find my way back to the village where they lived. By the time I realized what was happening the town was destroyed, the first of many to fall before me, and I was standing over the only survivor of the Hoit family. I struck a deal with the young woman; in return for her life she and her decedents would search for a way to send those they had brought to this world back. With a contract signed in blood I went off to find a place to wait.

But it was not meant to be. The chakra built up in my body again and again, each time ending with me losing my mind and destroying a group of humans who in my madness were all to blame for my pain. As the chakra continued to invade me, my body could no longer contain the force of it. It broke out of my skin and formed a cloak of fire based chakra. It grew and I gained chakra tails until I was up to nine. By this time the only thing I knew was the pain, it defined my very existence. Then the man came, I do not know who he was but he used some jutsu on me and it sent me into a blind rage. I followed the man out of my cave and through a forest. In the middle of the forest was Konoha. The man headed into the village so in my rage I attacked.

I don't know how your father knew what to do or how to seal me correctly but he sealed me in such a way that I am no longer absorbing chakra and after a very long nap I awoke inside Naruto pain free for the first time since I came to this world, and the rest is as you say history.

0000

Sorry it took so long but I started school and had a terrible time getting through this chapter. Anyways enjoy and tell me how I am doing, like all the writers on this site I love reviews.

~Erkovas


	5. Chapter 5

Merry Christmas

Chapter 5

0000

He looked down at the list and sighed again. Seven people, five men and two women, that was all, the rest of the clan was against him and to be against him, the hokage, is to be destroyed. After the nine tails attack he had been worried about the clan and forced them into a secluded part of the city. He had tried to reason with them but they refused to see it. He had been backed into a corner, and one did not get away with forcing the third hokage to do anything. So now six of those loyal to him had been sent out on missions, and the last stood before him, prepared to do what was needed.

"Go, good luck and I am sorry this had to happen." He told the young man before him.

In a flash Sarutobi was once again alone, he slowly made his way back to his office, and with a sigh he sat down at his desk. The Uchiha clan would be dead by morning and the poison that had plagued his city and their police force would be gone. From those loyal to him he would build a new stronger clan, loyal to their country and more importantly to him, the Hokage. Even with the loss of so many ninja it was a good night, in the end the village would be stronger. And above all the kyuubi would be safe from the effects of the sharingan.

0000

An eight year old boy looked adoringly up at his older brother, who had just spent one of his precious days off helping him train. And it had been worth it. He was able to do something that no one but his brother had been able to do. He had awoken his sharingan at age eight. Not that he was anywhere near as good as his brother, who had been an official ninja at his age. But this would have to make his parents proud. He would be able to hold his head high as a member of the great Uchiha clan and the son of the clan head.

Sasuke and Itachi walked back to the Uchiha compound happy and on Sasuke's part tired from a long day of training. But as the approached the compound they knew something was wrong. There were no guards at the gate and it was completely quiet. Itachi's ANBU honed instincts kicked in and he activated his sharingan as he pushed his little brother behind him.

"What's going on?" Sasuke asked in confusion, fear bubbling in his stomach.

"Stay close." Itachi responded slowly drawing and kunai out of his leg pouch and walking forward.

As the brothers made their way towards the house they shared with their parents horror mounted. Each house they passed had dead relatives outside them. Bile rose in Sasuke's throat at the sight of his family, the strongest clan in Konoha, dead. As they approached the center of the district where the heads house was located they were greeted by the bodies of their mother and father, the once proud leaders of the Uchiha carelessly thrown down on the road.

A quiet voice made Sasuke jump as a ninja made his presence known. "I've been waiting for you." The male voice said in an even tone. Sasuke looked up from where he was desperately clinging to his brother to see the familiar face of his brothers best friend.

"Shisui why?" Itachi asked in a neutral voice betraying none of the emotion he felt from seeing his family dead.

"It was my job." He replied with eyes that showed a madness Sasuke had never seen before. "The clan was going against the hokage. The way they were was cancer to the village. Don't worry there are a few that remain loyal and together we will make this clan great once more. I will lead the Uchihas to their rightful place. All that remains is you, I am sorry you and your brother have to die my friend but I had no choice. After all you just killed the clan, even your beloved little brother, and I had to stop you before you could do any more damage. After all I am the hero of the village." Shisui threw his head back and laughed. "I will become even more famous than the fourth hokage. Who knows maybe I will become the next hokage. Now die."

Taking advantage of Shisui's monolog Itachi quickly made a shadow clone which grabbed Sasuke and retreated to a safe distance while he prepared himself for battle. As Shisui charged he threw a few shuriken to slow his opponent down before with clash their weapons met. Itachi quickly went over his options as the two jumped apart. He had to finish this quickly and preferable quietly before someone came to investigate. From what his friend had said the slaughter of his clan was supported by the hokage therefore, Itachi reasoned, any company that arrived at this point would be bad news for him and his brother.

Itachi quickly spun around and again crossed blades with Shisui who had just appeared behind him.

"You cannot beat me." He said with a sneer. "I cannot be beaten, look what I did to our precious family. They all fell to my sword. It was easy they were not even a challenge. And you prodigy of this clan are no different. I am invinci-ug." Shisui looked down to see a second kunai buried in his back courtesy of a second shadow clone Itachi had made.

"No body is invincible, and to think so is to invite death." Itachi said a few tears falling down his face showing emotion for the first time since he had entered the compound that night. The death of his family and the act of killing his best friend weighing heavily on his soul as his eyes started to burn.

0000

"Itachi?" Sasuke questioned when the clone brought him back to his brother. "What are we going to do?" When Sasuke looked at his brother he noticed that there was something wrong with his sharingan, combined with everything else that had happened in the last hour he began to panic. His labored breathing brought his brother out of the stupor he had been in since he had killed his friend.

He quickly wiped his eyes and looked down at his brother. "Calm down, panicking will accomplish nothing." Of course this did nothing to relieve his brother's worries and when Sasuke did not calm down Itachi went down on one knee and held his brother until he was calm enough to talk.

"I have to leave." He told his distressed brother. "After tonight undoubtedly I will be declared a traitor by the hokage and if I do not run they will execute me."

"Take me with you." Sasuke pleaded.

Itachi shook his head. "The life of a missing ninja is a hard one and you will not be able to survive long enough to learn all how to live it."

"I'm not good enough?" Sasuke asked pulling away from his brother. He began to wonder if he was as useless as his father thought.

"NO! I know you will become a great ninja one day but it takes training that we do not have time for. I know you will become strong, strong enough to fix the injustices that caused this." He said gesturing to the carnage of the Uchiha district.

"But what if they kill me when you leave?" Sasuke asked fear in his voice and eyes.

"Don't worry I they won't, I will make sure of that. In ten minutes I want you to run out of here and find a ninja officer, tell them that you were training late and came home to find everyone dead. Can you do that?" Sasuke nodded. "I believe in you, and I will always be there if you need me."

"Be careful who you trust, and remember what happened in my fight with Shisui. Ninjas especially young ones are overly confident and enjoy bragging about their powers during a fight. Take advantage of that, and never decide the outcome of a fight before it starts. No matter how weak the opponent looks."

And with those few words of wisdom and another brief hug Itachi was gone. Sasuke sank to the ground, gathering himself and taking deep breaths. He reviewed everything that had happened that day from the boring history lesson on the hokages at the academe to the training session with his brother and his walk down the body filled road leading to his house. As everything set in and the time for his departure neared the only sound to be heard in the area was a soft muttered mantra of "I will not cry, I will not cry…" from a small boy rocking back and forth next to the bodies of his parents and the man who killed them.

0000

Rage, pure and simple. Sarutobi had never been so mad in his life. Not only had Shisui failed to kill the brothers but Itachi had shown up in his office and threatened him. The nerve of that punk, he wanted to ring his scrawny neck. But he had left before he even had a chance to call for his guards.

He had told the hokage that if anything happened to his little brother there would be grave coincidences. And the worst part was that he was right. Itachi was to good, had been let in on to many secrets that could create great chaos in his village. Along with the information that the idiot Shisui had given him he had the potential to destroy everything he had worked for.

But Itachi was gone now, and if he ever set foot in the village again he would be dead before he could say anything. So what to do with Sasuke. Obviously he was not going to trust him so he would have to discredit the brat before he could spread any rumors. Luckily for him he had lots of practice in that. In the next few days the surviving Uchihas would start to return from their missions and they would do what he said. The best thing would be to shun the young Uchiha, he was the brother of a mass murder what if he decided to follow in his brother's footsteps? Yes that would be the way to do it. Even if he did eventually graduate from the academe he would be friendless and no one would be willing to properly train the boy who could someday become the next traitor to the village.

The hokage quit muttering to himself as he heard frantic knocking on his door the time for planning was over it was time for action.

0000

Kyuubi's story had opened a whole new realm of possibilities in the area of summoning jutsus. But the most shocking thing for the two eight year olds was the fact that there were eight more chakra creatures out there somewhere probably suffering a lot more than Kyuubi. But all thoughts of the past were pushed aside when the next day news arrived of the horrors that had taken place at the Uchiha compound.

It had come as a complete surprise and that fact scared Naruto more than anything. He had made a mistake. He had gotten comfortable. They had ears in the hokage's office and he had thought he knew what was going on, but clearly the old mad had some tricks up his sleeve, he was definitely more discreet than they originally thought. But the fact remained, they would have to figure out new ways to listen in on the hokage.

Unfortunately that was also a problem for later. In the past week Naruto had been consistently listening in on the hokage's office. At the moment he was in class pretending to sleep with a listening seal up to his ear. The hokage was speaking to the remaining members of the Uchiha clan minus Sasuke, who was a couple rows in front of him. The old man was planning a Naruto, as he had termed it. This involved discrediting someone based upon gossip and the sins of those who said person was related to.

In this case the hokage was convincing the remaining Uchiha clan to shun the poor child because his brother had killed the rest of their family. Even if the hokage had been spreading his story around the village for the past week these people were frighteningly easy to convince.

The whole thing told Naruto two things: first those six people were loyal to the hokage. With all the rumors that had been going around the village in the past few months it was clear that the hokage was not supported by the Uchiha clan. So for all of those who survived the massacre to be loyal to the hokage hinted that the hokage had a hand in the whole affair.

The second thing was that Sasuke knew something. Sarutobi always had a reason to do what he did, no matter how sick or twisted they were. And the old man was desperately trying to isolate the youngest Uchiha. So he knew something and for some reason just making him disappear was out of the question. So what did Sasuke know, and why was he being kept alive?

Naruto sighed as the conversation he was listening to broke up. He opened his eyes and looked around the classroom. There had been no overt changes since the massacre but if he looked close he could tell that everyone was on edge. For one thing he was not receiving as many hateful looks as he normally did, at the moment most of them were focused on the Uchiha, who seemed to be lost in thought.

But that was not the only difference everyone was on high alert. Where normally there was one teacher and an aid in each class Naruto counted two aids and if his senses served him right at least one other hiding in the room. He also knew that once they got out of class for the day there would be many more adults waiting than normal. It seemed like all the clans were on high alert and wanted to keep a close eye on their children.

The big problem with this was that Hinata was part of a clan and as such they had not been able to talk since the incident. And they needed to talk, not only about what the Kyuubi had told them or the events of the last week but also about Sasuke. He had potential and if what he had thought was going to take place actually happened he would be in need of allies, perhaps he was the third member they had been looking for.

Damn he really needed to talk to Hinata, maybe they could slip away at lunch today. Naruto closed his eyes again as Kakashi announced himself before entering the hokage office. This should be interesting after all the recently retired ANBU had been Itachi's captain. But first he had to listen to them discuss the newest Icha Icha book. This was going to be a long day.

0000

Sasuke was having a bad day after a bad month since the massacre. He had finally been allowed to go off on his own instead of being watched constantly. But after hours of training he was tired and had not seemed to improve any.

He was also afraid to use his sharingan because even if they were not overtly watching him he was not sure if they were watching from the shadows. So here he was tried from training that seemed useless and afraid he was being watched. On top of that he was trying to sneak around the village because everyone was giving him dirty looks refusing to speak to him and on occasion throwing things at him.

Sasuke sighed wondering if this nightmare that was his life would ever end. The only thing that was keeping him going were thoughts of his brother, he had to keep going for him. He turned into an alley which would take him around the market area town and stopped because two people wearing black clothes with scarves wrapped around their faces and hair were standing in front of him.

"We have a proposition for you." The one on the left said in a slightly familiar female voice. When he looked at them closely the appeared to be about his age.

"What do you want?" He asked warily.

"We know what is going on, how everyone is scared of you and we know who caused it. Unfortunately you are not the first person to be treated this way." The girl said with a quick glance at her partner.

"We propose a partnership," the newly identified male said, "we have a common goal, to survive the life of a ninja and escape from the grasp of a manipulating old man."

"We have been watching you and believe you would be a good addition to our team. So are you willing to join us?" The girl finished.

Sasuke thought about this for a few minutes was he willing to blindly through his lot in with these strangely familiar people? Well he could always get away from them if he didn't agree with what they were doing after all he was an Uchiha and had an active sharingan that no one knew about. Making a decision he took a step forward.

"OK I'm in."

0000

So today is my birthday so what am I doing? I am watching my sick cousins and writing a new chapter. Really a fun day I know. But here is my birthday/Christmas present to all of you enjoy.

~Erkovas


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